Help These Days
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: Chase Young is not interested in anyone unless they are of use to him. He never thought he'd find a use for someone Jack Spicer, of all people, was related to. Chase/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Chaaaaase, would you do the honors?**

**Chase: Why should I, when all you do is abuse me?**

**Me: Because! You're the greatest villain in the history of HISTORY. *grin* And thanks to me, Omi shall come to the Heylin! ^^**

**Chase: Why? Just because you ask him to do so?**

**Me: No, silly willy walnut head! *giggle* Because of our new campaign slogan!**

**Chase: ... I'm almost afraid to ask.**

**Me: Come to the dark side! *holds out pot of Lao Mang Long* We have _SOUP_!**

**Chase: ...? *looks through his pockets* What the... who the... when... how did you get that?**

**Me: Word of advice, Chase baby. Make the cat door smaller. If I can fit through it, anyone can. ^^**

**Chase: *sigh* Fine. Ai-chan does not, nor will ever, own Xiaolin Showdown. And contrary to her belief, she DOES NOT own me. She owns only Marki Spicer.**

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Jack Spicer wasn't all that sure how it had happened, but for God's sake it had happened alright.

He didn't know exactly how Marki had gone from being his cousin, Megan's big sister, and his ticket to an A plus in English... to playing housekeeper for the greatest mastermind of all time.

All in all, it had been a very weird day.

It started in homeroom. He had been, as usual, tinkering away with one of his smaller Jack-Bots, trying to get the bugs out before he applied the programming to a larger model. The teacher typically didn't care unless they had a substitute, but Mr. Meyers was busy reading the newspaper, not different than any other day.

His cousin Marki, the person closest to him besides Wuya, sat directly to his left. She knew about his goals of world domination and his evil genius-ness, but unless she had been secretly researching behind his back, she didn't know anything about Shen Gong Wu or the Xiaolin/Heylin tussle. (Or that he was on the Heylin side, the side that was considered the baddest of the bad. But if she knew she'd be proud of him.)

He had actually been sort of planning on telling her about it today, after school. They were partners for their latest English project, in which they were supposed to reenact a scene from Romeo and Juliet. Marki, ever the somber girl, had picked out the scene where Juliet found Romeo dead and stabbed herself. She did this without telling him first, and he had given her a glare when their English teacher had announced the scenes each pair would be reading for.

They were supposed to be practicing today, but he had wanted to tell her about the Xiaolin and Heylin thing. He wasn't going to say anything about the Shen Gong Wu, of course... just mention that there was an ages-old battle still going on today over some very powerful Chinese techniques and that he was on the side of _eeeeeevillllll_. Yep, that was pretty much it. And then they were going to practice, practice, practice. Not one for the performing arts Jack had never done anything like this and Marki had sworn up and down to God she'd get him comfortable wearing tights.

Yeah. Like any self-respecting dude was _ever_ comfortable in a leotard.

The other thing he was going to do was introduce her to Chase Young, the greatest evil genius on the face of the planet. Hey, he couldn't let her know about the war without introducing her to the guy who ran the whole operation of the side he was on, could he? He had a feeling she'd like him, actually. He had always viewed Marki as sort of similar to Chase. They were both more serious than normal people. They both used sarcasm more than they used outright humor. They both spent a lot of time alone in the darkest rooms they could find. They both didn't give two shits about people unless they could manipulate them in some way. (Or, in Marki's case, if they were family and she _had_ to put up with them and wound up half-liking them.)

Not to mention the fact that neither of them quite grasped how to work a toaster.

In Chase's defense, he was rarely out of his castle and so had probably never _tried_ to work one before, never mind the fact that he hadn't even wanted to try it and Jack kept pushing him to try. Chase had servants for that kind of thing, and he couldn't be bothered with trivial matters like that. In _Marki's_ defense... a bunch of people had been yelling at her on Christmas Day, trying to tell her how much toast they wanted and how dark they wanted it, and she was one of those people who got mad very easily. Poor toaster never saw it coming, and Jack still hadn't paid his aunt for her new one.

Jack had the feeling that Chase and Marki would definitely get along. They would just sit there staring at each other until one of them got annoyed with the other's presence and left.

Back in the present, Marki leaned over and tapped her cousin's shoulder with a bored look on her face. When he looked over at her, she reached over and pointed at the Jack-Bot with a teal-colored nail. "Why do you even put an on/off switch on those things?"

"... Um..." Okay, she got him with that. Still, _he_ was the one in the advanced science class, not her. Granted it was because she didn't want to be, but he had _one_ leg lifted up on her at least. "None of your beeswax?"

"But it would make more sense not to have one." She leaned over, the top half of her body twisting to the side so she could tell him what he was doing wrong from a comfortable position. "If I was your enemy and you were fighting with these things, I could just do this." She flicked the switch and the Jack-Bot deactivated, a smug look on Marki's face.

"Hey!" He held his precious robot away from her destructive hands. "I don't want you breaking this like you broke Aunt Cindy's stupid toaster!"

Her eyes flashed dangerously as she glared at him. "What did I say I'd do if you mentioned the toaster one more time, sweet transvestite?"

"Stop callin' me that!"

"Hon, you wear make-up. _Guyliner_, even. Face it, you should just grow your hair out, put on an evening dress, and call yourself Jackie. And join a freak show. You could share a room with the Siamese twins. I mean, all you'd have to do is split everything three ways."

"You're a bitch, you know that?"

"At least I don't tell my enemies, 'Come get me! I'm stupid and I'm not a threat!'" She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes with a smirk.

That expression and position _really_ reminded him of Chase.

Jack was ready to just smack her across the face - but he knew if he did that, he could thoroughly expect a beating in gym, no matter what kind of ball they were playing with. She hit him in the head with a basketball once, on purpose, when he accused her of cheating on her former boyfriend... which she'd been doing anyway. He learned the hard way that she didn't like being judged for her actions, no matter how wrong they may be. "Oh yeah? Well, I'm still the evil genius! _I'm still the king around here_!"

"Yeah you are," Marki yawned, sinking down in her seat and preparing to take a nap before she had to go to her next class. "King of getting your ass whooped."

Jack's eye twitched as she began snoring. That was it. She was _so_ getting fed to Chase's cats.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where the fuck are you taking me? This is _so_ not the way to your house."

Jack sighed, trying to block his cousin's annoying voice from his mind. He was half considering just turning around and forgetting his daily suck up to Chase. But he bore with her... _just_ because she was his cousin and she was sort of okay. If she wasn't he probably would have fed her to the cats _already_, not just thought about doing it because he was ticked at her. The only reason he didn't stay ticked at her was because she _was_ his cousin. He didn't like staying pissed off at family. It made for too much awkward silence at Thanksgiving. Plus she was really sort of... well, if she ticked him off _really_ bad, later she would just do something to make up for it. She'd fix one of his robots or play a video game with him or something.

Like he'd decided before, she hated being judged. If someone got ticked off at what she said, she considered it being judged. Only difference was that if she had been the one to actually _say_ something, she wouldn't get upset and start pelting people with basketballs.

"I told you already," Jack finally answered her, "it's a _surprise_. There's somebody I want you to meet."

Behind him Marki groaned, heaving her backpack up on her shoulder. "I told you, Jackie, I'm _done_ with fix-ups! They always end in disaster."

"It's not a fix-up! It's just a friend of mine who I thought you'd have some things in common with. After all, you both just wave me away like I'm a fart."

"Um, that's because you are. And hey, I'm suddenly a lot more interested in meeting this person! Ha-ha!"

"... Weirdo..."

Once they got to the mountain, Jack took a Heli-Bot from his backpack and attached it to his shoulders. "Okay, Marki, now you hold on 'cause you're gonna be flyin' Air Spicer."

"... I'd really rather not."

"What? You don't trust my robots?"

"I don't trust anything you make. You put a fucking on/off switch on an offensive robot. Dumbass."

"_Would you shut up about it already_?"

"Shut don't go up. Prices do."

Jack scoffed. "Yeah, real mature. Learn that from your baby sister?"

"Hey!" Marki pointed a finger at him. "Just so you know, sweetheart, _she _learned everything from _me_."

"No, I think she's the one who _taught_ you."

"Take it back or I'll poke you in the eye with my bobby pin."

"Fine, you're evil all on your own."

"Damn fucking straight."

"Just hold on, I gotta fly us up there!"

She sighed. "Fine." She held on to one of the bars that came out of the Heli-Bot. "And just so you know, I _don't_ got you, babe."

"Like I said, weirdo." Jack initiated the bot and flew them up to Chase's giant castle. He could hear Marki whimpering behind him as she held on, and that was when he remembered that she hated heights. Well, just one more bonus was he got to freak her out. He made the bot veer and started shouting at her. "Oh my God! It malfunctioned! Marki, we're gonna die!"

She screamed. "_Fix it_! _Oh my God_!"

He laughed and resumed the course up to the castle. "Gotcha!"

He felt her smack the back of his head. "You asswipe! As soon as you land this thing I'm gonna kill you, ya little chicken shit!"

_So_. Worth. It.

Once they landed on the top part of the mountain that jutted out, Marki gave him a kick to the back. He managed to stay standing though it did knock him a bit off balance. "Jerk-a-saurus rex."

Jack rolled his eyes and walked up to the door. "Yep. Yep, that would be me, Marks."

"And I told you not to call me Marks. I _barely_ tolerate Marki."

"But you do because your real name is stupid."

"Are you gonna knock or am I gonna have to break the door down?"

"Fine, I'm going. Bossy." He knocked a few times on the door. "Oh, Chase Young, sir! Please open the door! I've brought someone and she really wants to meet-"

The door swung open, smashing Jack against the side of the building. "You," Jack managed to choke out in a shaky voice, his hand the only visible part of him.

Marki decided to crack up laughing. "Bwahaha!" She pointed at her cousin as he hobbled from behind the door in the shape of an accordion. "That's what you get for making me sound like a desperate whore! That just made my day. Good one." She held out a hand to shake that of whoever had opened the door.

Standing there, of course, was Chase Young in all his evil glory. Onyx hair with a green shine, falling down to his waist. Gold eyes with black slits, that went right through you. (Kind of like that tuna noodle casserole Marki's mom had brought to last year's family reunion.) And of course his armor, and signature arms-crossed-over-his-chest stance.

Marki immediately sobered up and stuck her hand out farther. "Nice to meet you."

He gave her the once-over, without moving anything but his head, and then looked over to the crumpled-up Jack. "Spicer, who is she and what is she doing here?"

"Gah!" Jack hurriedly straightened himself out and ran over, wrapping an arm around Marki and drawing her close. "Chase, sir! This is my cousin Marki Spicer. She's older than me but we're in the same grade because she's stupid."

Marki reached over and whacked Jack on the back of the head. "I'm not stupid. I chose to get held back. The more time you spend in a place the more you learn about it and appreciate the fact that you'd rather be somewhere else."

Jack gulped and let go of her, inching away. "A-Anyway... I've kinda been planning this for a long time and set the date for you guys meeting for today."

Chase raised an eyebrow, the pissed off look not disappearing. "And you did all this without telling me? How impressive that you managed to pull it all off, cat nip."

Jack looked nervously at his wrist, pretending to check the time. "Oh wow, Marki! Look how long we've been here already! We're supposed to be practicing our _Romeo and Juliet_ thing! Come on, let's make like a banana and _split_!" He let out a weak laugh, even seeing that Marki was making no move to leave.

Marki's eye twitched and she once again delivered a smack to her cousin's big head. "You idiot! How could you not even clear this with him? Sometimes I swear we're not even frickin' related! Seriously! When you do things like this it's some kind of game to you! It's like a big 'fuck you' to both people, like their time is less valuable than yours! God, you stupid asshole!" She finished off her speech with a knee to Jack's stomach.

Leaving her cousin screaming in pain on the ground, she flipped her hair and walked over to the other man. (Well, she reasoned, the _only_ man here, but she'd not say it and leave Jack alone for now.) "Look," she began, "I'm sorry he did this. I mean, I know he's stupid, but I didn't imagine he'd be _this_ stupid."

The other simply shrugged. "Believe it or not, I'm fairly used to it by now. And seeing as you are actually _related_ to him and..." He looked her up and down again. "Clearly nothing like him, and also having no physical injuries... you must have adjusted well too." He leaned against the doorframe, and cocked his head at the cracked side of the building. "How long have you been hoping someone would do that to him?"

"Pfft." Marki rolled her eyes. "Since my mom and aunt came home and told me, 'Look, Marki! There's your baby cousin!' He's always been an idiot, so I apologize for any stupid behavior he's done before, what he's doing now, and..." She tilted her head to the side, to the other side, and did this a few more times. "Well, anything he's _going_ to do. Because I can assure you, this is _not_ the end of his stupidity."

"Trust me, I learned that the second time he showed up here."

"How many times has he shown_ up_ here anyway?"

"... Counting today, that would be..." He rolled his eyes upward, as if he were thinking. "Four hundred and sixty-three."

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. You poor thing." She looked back at Jack, who had finally picked himself off the ground. "If he wasn't kin I'd have already opened a can of whoop-ass on the little nerd. I only have one nerve, and he's constantly working on it."

"In any case." Raven hair nearly hit her in the face as he turned around. "It looks like I have a guest. Please, come in."

Marki was happily on her way in when she rememebered her cousin. She leaned out of the door and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him inside. "I am _so_ not done with you. Did I mention how you better learn to sleep with your eyes open?"

**YAY. By the way, just because I love torturing Jack, that doesn't mean I don't just plain love him. I do. It's just way more fun torturing him than doing serious stuff with the sweet little geek.**

**I sense hidden magnets in both Chase and Marki with reverse polarityyyyyy... :D**

**Chase: ... Nobody knows what that means.**

**Me: Oh for Jason's sake! It means_ I sense a mutual attractionnnnn...!_**

**Chase: Oh God, _opera_... have not had pleasant experiences with that one.**

**Me: Whatcha mean, Chase baby?**

**Chase: Do you know what it's like to have Christine Daae constantly coming after you singing serenades? Not to mention both Raoul AND the Phantom of the blasted Opera threatening to beat me up if I didn't stay away from her.**

**Me: ... OH YEAH. I forgot, you've lived for like, 1500 years. Ooh ooh! Did you ever meet Shakespeare?**

**Chase: You mean Bill? Oh yes, very nice man. A tad bit too dramatic though. He made me read over all his scripts to make sure they were good.**

**Me: You didn't like them?**

**Chase: *crosses arms* My dear Ai, what real man does not shed a tear when he reads _Romeo and Juliet_ for the first time?**

**Me: So I guess all those guys in my freshman English class were really girls.**

**Chase: ... *sigh* Good-bye, readers. She would like you to review if you read because she doesn't know how well she's doing unless you tell her how you liked it.**

**Me: ^^**


End file.
